Mimicking some other inspirational leader or motivational speaker isn’t going to help you develop authentic leadership or executive presence. You’re making a mistake if you’re following an influencer or guru and trying to be like them, because you are not them. Yes, take their advice, follow their principles for doing the work they did on themselves to get to where they are today. But don’t try to be ‘just like them’ try instead to ‘be just like you’ because leadership and executive presence...

Last month I gave a webinar on speaking up with confidence even as a non-native speaker. The participants probably expected me to talk about posture, breathing exercises, eye contact and voice, but instead I asked "Who here considered themselves a naturally confident person.?" Only 1 hand was raised. So I asked "What is confidence?" Some of the answers from the chat were: Alignment Self worth A state of mind Feeling ready Then I asked what does confidence feel like? And the answers were:...

I have the knowledge, I have the experience, I know what I have to say, I even feel driven to speak… so why does my heart beat so fast when asking a question or challenging an opinion and why does my body shake for so long afterwards even when nothing ‘bad’ happens and the outcome is positive? That’s a question I’ve asked myself time and time again in a variety of situations and it basically comes down to psychological safety. I can feel both stirred to take action and speak up, yet shake for...